Books I Like: Lethal White

my favorite quotes from this book...

there are words that can never be unsaid or forgotten, and those, he knew, were some of them

chasing her own cheerfulness like a butterfly, because she was afraid it might escape

if you knew where to search and had time and expertise, the outline of many existences could be unearthed in cyberspace

"least said, soonest mended, don't they say?"

and sometimes, she knew, the kindness of a stranger, or even a casual acquaintance, could be transformative, something to cling to while those closest to you dragged you under in their efforts to help

it was a glorious thing, to be given hope, when all had seemed lost

it is hard to abruptly shrug off a long-established love. hard but this somehow you must do

animals have been an enormous consolation to me in my life. one can hardly overstate the comfort they give, sometimes

because men's crimes are always ours in the final analysis aren't they, Mr. Strike? ultimate responsibility always lies with the woman, who should have stopped it, who should have acted, who must have known. your failings are really our failings, aren't they? and there's nothing lower in this world than a bad mother

life has taught him that a great and powerful love could be felt for the most apparently unworthy people, a circumstance that ought, after all, to give everybody consolation

you can bloody  hate someone and still wish they give a shit about you and hate yourself for wishing it

his dark mood had lightened so abruptly that it was akin to having moved from sober to three pints down

pretending your ok when you aren't isn't strength

sometimes acting as though you're all right makes you all right. sometimes you've got to slap on a brave face and walk out into the world, and after a while it isn't an act anymore, it's who you are. if I'd waited to feel ready to leave my room after - you know, she said, I'd still be in there. I had to leave before I was ready

amazing, the lies people can tell themselves when they're drifting along in the wake of a stronger personality